New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has reportedly re-evaluated whether he should after all run for President and concluded he won’t jump in:
Christie has called a 1 p.m. press conference in Trenton to announce the decision. His advisers acknowledged in recent days that he was taking a second look at the race after repeatedly denying interest in a bid.
But, Christie was also quite open about his doubts about his readiness for the race and the challenges inherent in starting so late in the presidential process.
Christie was heavily courted to reconsider by large Republican donors as well as a handful of elected officials and party activists in key states. That recruitment process picked up steam following several mediocre debate performances by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, showings that raised doubts about his ability to unite the party and beat President Obama next fall.
His decision is the last major domino to fall in the Republican race, which has been defined by a series of rapid rises and falls (Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann being the best example) among conservative candidates and the courting of not-yet-candidates into the race.
This will greatly unfreeze the Republican race, and likely mean that it’ll shape up as a race between former Mass. Gov Mitt Ronmney, who has been rising in some polls or staying about the same, Texas. Gov. Rick Perry who has been nosediving in the polls, and former Godfather’s CEO Herman Cain who has been picking up GOP support.
Above all, the Republican race is promising to be a race between the Tea Party and what remains of the once powerful Republican establishment.
If Christie had jumped in he probably would have been under fire from Tea Party members for being too liberal on some issues. It was NOT a given that he’d get the nomination or win the election. By waiting Christie is wise: he can establish more of a record in New Jersey, rack up political IOUs as surrogate for the Republican 2012 President candidate, and start to build the organization he would have had to scramble to build if he jumped in at this late date.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.